Bally Terminates Membership to Disabled Person

CHICAGO -- A Bally Total Fitness membership that had been signed by a developmentally disabled person in Indianapolis has been terminated, a Bally public relations official said today.

The family of Mark Hannon told Indianapolis TV station WRTV that two men representing a local Bally club went to the apartment of Hannon, whom the family says is developmentally disabled, and offered him a membership, even though the apartment complex in which Hannon lives has a policy against solicitation. The two men also allegedly drove Hannon to the club to sign the contract, which the family claims Hannon could not understand.

Hannon, 49, paid $69.98 for the first and last month of the contract—in addition to a services fee—and agreed to have $29.99 withdrawn from his bank account every month, according to the TV station.

“They knew he was developmentally challenged, and it did not bother them one bit,” Joe Hannon, Mark’s brother, told the TV station.